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LeMons challenge N14 SSS

Hi Guys,

I'm new to Pulsars but have bought an N14 SSS for the LeMons challenge at Wakefield Park, NSW in October.
I've been doing some reading but any must dos or must nots (in terms or upgrades or modifications) for the race?
Its a 2 day charity race and costs outside of safety are meant to be kept below $1000.
Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I did the Winton event this year, Team Top Gun in a N15 SSS. The car was a relatively low 160k which had been in an accident but the running gear was okay. Clutch had recently been replaced. We got the car for nothing so we upgraded suspension with a second hand of coil overs and changed the exhaust. Second hand extractors and full mandrel system (Which drew attention to us as the loudest car by heaps). Things we found were 1 set of tyres is fine for the weekend we used Bridgestone RE003's 195/50's on 15x7 VW Motorsport rims (Secondhand $500). Front brakes on the other hand were a different story. We started with a fresh set of DBA Slotted rotors and Winmax Pads (Good quality $275) for the set. We destroyed these on the first day rotors and pads (Pads were 2 hard and grooved the rotors). Put the back up rotors and new pads in Saturday night along with a new clutch, we never changed the rears. We killws the new pads by 2pm Sunday and put the hard pads back in for the rest of the day. You might consider putting a bigger fuel tank in it, as time lost in the stops as much harder to find than on the track. Fast laps can be hard to get with the traffic and harder to get past the knob's in the big Commodore and Falcon whos egos can handle get beaten by 4cyl's. They sit in the middle and the track and pull away down the straights. The guys who have been doing it for a while use big tanks and limit driver changes. They just cut consistent laps and overtake people when they stop. If you've got an N14 you might want to consider changing to N15 SSS / GTiR front brakes and put brake ducts in to keep the pads and rotors cool. Also the biggest issues for Pulsars (there were 5 or 6 N15's) at Winton was front left stub axle (CV) nut coming loose. The APRA guys are all experienced with this issue. One the teams distroyed 2 left hand calipers when the nut can loose increased pad wear then melted the pad backing plate the caliper. We didn't find out about this until after the race, checked the CV nut when we got back Monday and the wheel was loose as hell lucky it didn't fail. Fuel stops take 5 mins so that's a huge amount of time to catch up on the track.

Good luck

PS Dont stress about the budget, IMHO better to get 1 or 2 laps penalty than having to stop it will take longer for sure. And you are likely to get away with it if you join the back of the queue for getting the car checked. They never checked our budget at all. So focus on making it reliable.

Thanks for the detailed reply! Some very helpful tips in there. Coilovers are proving difficult to find second hand and it definitely sounds like I have to upgrade the front brakes.
I've heard you build up alot of heat in the clutch and even a heavy duty one might slip after 10 or so laps. Some people recommend ceramic ones? Sounds like you didnt have that issue though.
What about a theme? We seem to be getting pushed to really get into a theme. Is it that necessary?
All in all sounds like a great weekend though. Can't wait!
Let us know if you have nay parts you want to sell.
Thanks again.

Hi Cam,
I looked for a while for the Coil overs, i have seen a few since on Facebook and Gumtree. Most are around the 4-500 mark. Not sure about the clutch getting to hot after 10 laps, we didn't over 200 on the first day with a standard clutch and it only let go in the last hour. Then we run a new one on Sunday which went okay. I have heard from APRA Pulsar racers that you should only use a sprung center clutch with a standard gearbox otherwise you start chipping teeth off. So for Lemons i think a mid level clutch would be the best bet. Too hard or rigid and you'll destroy the gearbox. I might have a set of Pedders lowered and H/Duty spring and shocks just want to check them first before I put them up for sale. At this stage we are thinking of heading up to Wakefield ourselves so might see you on track.
Cheers
PS If you don't theme up expect a lot of penalties, and to be honest it's pretty once you do it. The pre grid at Winton was awesome and great vibe and heaps of fun. The guys who run it aren't focused on the race but more having fun and being relaxed, they are pretty anti competition lol.